Please turn with me tonight to John 3, as we read a few verses from John 3, and also Ephesians 2. John 3 and Ephesians 2, and also in connection with this, our confessional reference, Lord's Day 7, page 14 in the back of the Psalter hymnal. 14 and 15 actually, questions and answers 20 through 23. John 3, reading verses 16 through 21 and verse 36. And then the first 10 verses of Ephesians chapter 2. Hear now the word of the Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ says, For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned. But whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict. Light has come into the world, but men love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. And John says in verse 36, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. Ephesians 2, verses 1-10, the familiar portion of Scripture, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the Spirit who is now at work and those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. And again, if you would turn and back the Psalter hymnal, page 14, Lord's Day 7, as we confess what we believe with regard to questions and answers 20, 21, and 22. As I had said earlier, we will confess together our faith using the words of the Apostles' Creed at the very close of the sermon tonight. Question 20 asks, Are all men saved through Christ just as all were lost through Adam? No, only those are saved who by true faith are grafted into Christ and accept all His blessings. What is true faith? True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in His Word is true, It is also a deep-rooted assurance created in me by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel that out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation. What then must a Christian believe? everything God promises us in the Gospel. That Gospel is summarized for us in the articles of our Christian faith, a creed beyond doubt and confessed throughout the world. Beloved, let's bow together in prayer. Father, as we come together once again in this evening hour, having read Your Word and given testimony to what we believe, we must confess too, O Lord, that we are blinded to Your Word unless You should open our eyes by the power of Your Holy Spirit. And may it be our desire, each and every one of us here, both young and old, that You do that for us tonight. That You would remove from us anything that would hinder us from seeing the beauty of Your Word and believing it and responding to it. And Father, indeed, may our response be to give You glory and praise and honor as You and You alone deserve. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake, and in His name alone. Amen. Beloved in Christ the Lord, the salvation of mankind, we might say, has been a hot topic ever since the fall of mankind. And this hot topic of salvation has been debated over, it's been fought over, and it has been died over for centuries. The questions, who are saved and how are they saved, have been questions that have continued to plague the church because of false interpretations, wrong understanding, wrong confessions. In our study of God's Word as summarized by the Heidelberg Catechism so far, after learning that our sin and misery is our own fault and not God's fault, and learning that we are not able to satisfy the punishment and wrath of God, and that we are in need of a specific mediator and deliverer after considering all of that, then Lord's Day 6 positively identified the only one who could meet God's standard. There is a Redeemer and Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. That's what the Gospel is all about. But the next question is, and it's a very important question, how am I connected to Him? How do I personally come to share in His saving work? You see, this is important because just because there is a Savior doesn't automatically mean that He is my Savior. Now, that may be hard to hear, but it's the truth. Just because there is a Savior doesn't automatically mean that He is my Savior. What does the Bible say? Lord's Day 7, summarizing Scripture, places before us the answers to the questions about who is saved and how they are saved. Beloved, the Bible clearly teaches that we are saved by grace through faith. And we want to notice the common identity of those who are saved, the common requirement of those who are saved, and the common confession of those who are saved. Again, question 20 asks, Are all men saved through Christ just as all men were lost through Adam? An honest question, right? After all, Romans 5 says that in Adam all die. And therefore, it's an honest question. And many would tell you and me that they believe that all people, every single last person who ever lived, who lives today or will live one day, every single one will meet with a happy end. But you see, this question goes straight for the jugular vein of universalism, which wrongly teaches that it's only fair and it's only right that if all fall in Adam, that all rise in Christ. And it's not that the Bible teaches that, you see, but many just feel that's how it should be. We just can't imagine a horrible end for anyone. And of course, there are also different strains of universalists. Some, like Arminianism, believe that Christ died for all men, but that man must consciously, of his own free will, choose to accept Christ. It's up to man in the end. Everyone can be saved if they only want to be saved. But the Bible teaches, and as Reformed believers, we confess, no, all men are not saved by Christ. And the harsh reality is that not all men can be saved if they want to. Again, what does our Lord say in John chapter 3? For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. And verse 18, whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. And again, verse 36, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. Do you notice the clear common identity of those who are saved? Again, are all men saved through Christ just as all were lost through Adam? No, only those are saved who by true faith are grafted into Christ and accept all His blessings. The common identities of those who are saved by Christ are only those who are grafted into Christ and accept all of His blessings, or as the older version of the catechism says, receive all of His benefits. In other words, made one with Christ. Now, this idea of grafting is a fascinating one, and really it tells us so much. Grafting is basically the process of taking something that is essentially dead because it has been separated, cut off from its life source, and reconnecting it with a source of life. We know there are different things that are grafted. There's skin grafting, but I think most often we might think of grafting with regard to trees and branches. And you can properly learn about that from our resident grafter, Steve Hauerzile. I'll never forget when he showed me how that works. It really was fascinating. I knew about it, but I'd never seen it. But grafting is when you take a branch and after making some sort of a notch in the base or the trunk of a tree, you connect that branch with that tree. Apart from the tree, that branch is dead. It's useless. It has no source from which to get nourishment. Jesus said in John 15, the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. And because of sin, all of mankind was cut off from their life source. Cut off from God. And therefore, all of mankind, you and me included, is dead in trespasses and sin. Then God, through the operation of His Holy Spirit, takes those whom He has chosen of His own goodness and free will, whom He has chosen from the foundation of the world and on the basis of Christ's complete sacrifice, He grafts them into Jesus Christ. He connects them. He cements them with the life source. With a connection that can never be severed. Jesus said He loses not one. Beloved, as Christians, our life is not found here on this earth, but it is found only in Christ. We are made one with Christ. We become a part of His body of which He is the head. The catechism says that those who are saved by Christ are grafted into Him and accept all of His blessings or, again, receive all of His benefits, those outlined for us in Scripture. You see, those who are connected to the life source obviously receive their life from that source. Just as the branch draws nourishment from the tree, those grafted into Christ draw life from Him. They are nourished with the living water. They are fed with the bread of life. These are His blessings, His benefits, which we'll talk more about in the second point. But grafting, this grafting process is a picture of life. Of God giving life through His Son. And that's what Paul says in Ephesians 2. He says in verse 1, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins. In verses 4 and 5, But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. Even when we were dead in transgressions, it is by grace you have been saved. You see, you are saved by grace. God's grace. There is no other way. God's grace. Undeserved, unmerited, unwanted. God does the grafting. Not you, not me. And He doesn't graft us into Christ because we are good branches. We know that something that is dead can't give itself life, has no desire for life, does not want to be saved. This is clearly the work of God and God alone. And then obviously, congregation, this new life is to be seen. A branch that begins to draw life from the vine or the tree can't help but to be seen. That new life is evident because that branch begins to bear fruit. Jesus said, by their fruit you will know them. Talking specifically about those with bad fruit. But the same is true with good fruit. True fruit of faith. Christians are to bear fruit and that fruit is to be seen in their lives. And that fruit is evidence of being one with Christ, of being connected with the source of life, of being identified with the Lord Jesus Christ. We sing, But all my life, in every step, be fellowship with Thee. The common identity of those who are saved is that they are grafted into Christ and accept all His benefits. But now, how does God do this grafting? You see, even a branch must somewhat be prepared properly to be put into the notch in a tree. How does God do this grafting? What is the means? What is the instrument He uses? What is the common requirement of those who are saved and share that common identity? The Catechism says only those who by true faith are grafted into Him. Why do we confess this? Because the Bible teaches this. Salvation is only for those who are made one with Christ through true faith. God's people come to share the common identity because by God's grace, they share the common requirement of true faith. They believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, we know that the word faith is somewhat kind of a generic term today. It's used in different ways. We might say to our children, well, I have faith that you will do well in your ball game today, or I have faith that you're going to do well in your test, or I have faith that today is going to be a good day. And we use the word faith here to mean, I think there's a good possibility that these things will happen. But the Bible also teaches that spiritually speaking, there is a false faith. The parable of the sower tossing the seed on the different kinds of soil teaches that. False faith that has no foundation, that faces temptation and hardship and persecution, quickly withers up and dies off. False faith has no basis. It has no firm foundation. But what is true faith? What is genuine saving faith? Now, we ought to be thankful to our God that He provided the writers of the catechism with a most wonderful definition of faith. So look at all the Scripture references found underneath this definition in question and answer 21. What is true faith? True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in His Word is true. It is also a deep-rooted assurance created in me by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel that out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God and have been granted salvation. And Hebrews 11, verse 1 says, Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. A conviction and a deep-rooted assurance. You see, beloved, true faith is not wishy-washy. It has no doubts. It is specific. There's no guesswork involved. It includes conviction. and deep-rooted assurance. And first of all, true faith includes knowledge of something because you cannot truly be convicted of something if you don't know about it. And that knowledge of something, that something is everything God reveals in His Word. We must know everything between the covers of the Bible. Boys and girls, that's why you have Bible class in the Christian school. You're learning what God says in the Bible. That's why you read the Bible around the dinner table with your parents. That's why you hear the preaching of the Word. We must know everything between the covers of the Bible. Don't worry if you don't know it all perfectly. I doubt even the oldest saint here does. But that's why it takes continual study every day of our life. We must know everything between the covers of the Bible and know that it comes only from God and that He does not lie. And you see, we must not only know it and not only must we know it to be God's Word, but also then we must believe it to be true. This is faith's conviction. No questions asked. And it's not to be manipulated according to one's own interpretation. There are many people today and many throughout the history of the church, but many today who claim to know the Bible, and if you ask them, they will even sign on the dotted line as it were that they believe it. But while they're signing with one hand, In a sense, they have their other hand behind their back with their fingers crossed. You see, the Bible is okay until I find something that binds me, that restricts me, that I believe isn't the truth for me because I just can't make sense of it. I can't reason it. After all, we all know that the Bible is true in different ways for different people, right? And there are still others, beloved, who put the institution of the church above the truth of the Bible. Well, my son or daughter isn't going to our church, but he or she is going to such and such a church. Well, you know, that's better than nothing. Or my daughter is dating a boy who goes to this or that church. It's not the one that I would choose, but at least it's better than nothing. You see, simply attending church, regardless of what they believe and teach, is better, we feel, than not going at all. We figure that that's the lesser of two evils. Now please don't anyone here twist what I have just said and go off and say that, well, Reverend Voss said that the only true church, the only one we may attend, is the Escondido United Reformed Church or even the United Reformed Churches in North America. I didn't say that. I would never say that. God in His grace has provided true churches around this world under different names. But we must understand, beloved, that there are false churches out there. Even those that look vibrant. Even those that look like they're alive and well. But if you dig deep, if you look deep, they have forsaken the truth of the Word of God. They're not preaching and teaching the truth. Young people, be careful. Be careful because it's not correct to say, well, just going to a church is better than nothing. It simply isn't true. That's compromising the authority and the truth of God's Word. We are to take God at His Word and believe what He says to be true and not what we want Him to say. But there's more here still to true faith. True faith, again, includes knowledge of God's revelation in Scripture because, again, you cannot believe what you don't know. It includes believing God's revelation to be true. But it also includes trusting that very, very personal element called trust. Trusting that it's true, not just for others, but for me too. Again, answer 21 is so very beautiful. It is also a deep-rooted assurance created in me by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel that out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God and have been granted salvation. Young people, if you can confess those things to be true of you, but you have not yet publicly professed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, I have to ask you, what are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Notice how personal this is. I don't believe for you, and you don't believe for me. Not one of us is saved through the faith of another. You are not saved just because your grandmother was a believer and prayed for you every day of her life. Now, that may very well have been the means that God chose to use to bring you to Himself, but that's not why you are saved. You are not saved just because you grew up in a Christian home and attended a Christian school and were a member of a Christian church. I clearly remember as a boy, as a young man, thinking about my sin, Being troubled by my sin and trying to find comfort in those three things. That I was in a Christian home with Christian parents. That I attended a Christian school. And was at that time a baptized member of a Christian church. But praise God, He showed me that's not what saves me. Wonderful, wonderful tools. Necessary tools in our lives. But your faith depends on what you believe. Is it the truth? And do you trust it is true for you? True faith says, I know in my head that what God says in His Word is true. All of it. And I also know it in my heart. I believe it. Even the uncomfortable parts. Even the disagreeable parts. Even the inconvenient parts. I have confidence that because I am grafted into Christ, that all of His blessings are mine. My sins are forgiven. Yours, yes. Mine too. I am seen by God as righteous in His sight for Jesus' sake. I am saved. All because of Jesus Christ. And all of this is a precious gift given to me. Boys and girls, we just came to the Christmas season. No doubt many, if not all of you, received gifts. Maybe you've forgotten what they are already. It's only been a couple of weeks. But there's no greater gift than this. Ephesians 2, verse 8 says, For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. Beloved, if you believe in Jesus Christ and trust in Him alone for salvation, that is because of God's work in you through His Holy Spirit. And there's no greater gift than the deep-rooted assurance that all that God reveals in His Word is true for me too. Me too. God gives us the gift of faith, and with that faith, then, we receive all of the benefits earned for us by Jesus. Saved by grace through faith. True faith is a gift of God's grace. And the catechism makes it clear that this is the triune God that we're talking about here. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God the Father has revealed His Word. God the Holy Spirit works in my heart and God the Father gives all these benefits only for the sake of Christ's merits, God the Son's merits. It's full service salvation. You see, the object of true faith, the one in whom our faith rests, is the triune God. And this means that you can only have true faith if you have a living, personal relationship with God. The Catechism rightly says that the Holy Spirit works this in my heart through the Gospel. of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit came, He would take of what is Christ and give it to His people. Remember Lydia? We read in Acts that after hearing the Word of God, the Holy Spirit opened her heart to believe the things she had heard. The Holy Spirit works this knowledge, this conviction, and this deep-rooted assurance in you and me by the Gospel. That's the nourishment. That's the food for those grafted into Christ by faith. Again, you and I won't believe. We can't and won't believe what you don't know. And you won't know the truth of God's Word apart from the Holy Spirit. And you can't know God apart from His Word. The Holy Spirit and the Word go together. They do not work separately. And the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to work faith, to plant that seed of faith, to begin faith in the heart, and to nourish the faith of believers. Paul told the Philippian jailer, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. And to believe in Him, you must know Him. And how do you come to know Him? By studying all that God has revealed between the covers of the Bible. And do you know what this means? This means, beloved, that when unbelievers cannot stand the truth of God's Word and do all that they can to hide from it and to avoid it at all costs, a true believer seeks the Word. a true believer seeks the gospel he seeks the true church where the word is faithfully preached he seeks to study the word of God with other true believers he seeks to surround himself with friends who believe the truth as he does to encourage him, to pray for him to admonish him, to uphold him in the faith the true believer seeks a spouse that believes the same truth of the word of God that he or she does A true believer who has a living bond with Christ must and will seek the communion of the church that is faithful to the Word. Congregation, when you are grafted into Christ by true faith, that is truly a life-changing experience. Now, this doesn't mean that we will never struggle with our faith. It doesn't mean that we will never question our faith or wonder at times if we are really saved. That's part of the life change, isn't it? It doesn't mean, as we said this morning, that we will never fall into gross sin. We might. Because of the sin that clings to us against our renewed will, we do doubt at times. But again, God preserves us. He keeps us. And He is not only able to keep us from falling, but He indeed does keep us from stumbling and falling completely away from Him. You can, by the grace of God, make this confession, as it is beautifully laid forth in the Catechism, this confession that presents faith in its perfect or ideal form, but that doesn't mean that you and I manifest or demonstrate perfectly the ingredients of this faith in our lives. Think about a kernel of corn. Boys and girls, all the elements of the corn are in the seed. It may be hard to imagine, but they're there. The roots, the blade, the stalk, the leaves, the ear of corn. But all of these things, as you look at a kernel of corn, All of these things are not yet developed in the seed. And faith is the same way. When the Holy Spirit regenerates a person, He implants the seed of faith in the heart of that person and all of the elements of faith are there. The knowledge, the belief, the trust, but they are not yet fully developed. That's the process of sanctification. And some are further along in that process by the grace of God than others. Your faith won't be perfect until you reach glory. but, praise God, it will be perfected. How do you know? Because the Bible says it's an imperishable seed. But yet, true faith is there. And the Holy Spirit causes it to develop in the Christian more and more. And with this fruit of your having been grafted into Christ, then is to be seen. Again, I said a moment ago, this is a life-changing experience. For example, beloved, you cannot pray or read the Bible or attend church out of faith and then travel and do business or interact with the world without faith. You cannot let your faith function at certain religious functions in worship on Sunday or in Bible study during the week or in young peoples or gems or cadets, but then speak evil or complain or deal selfishly at other times. You eat and drink like unbelievers, yet you do it differently, knowing by faith that you depend on God for these things. Indeed, much of our lives, many of the details of our lives are the same as the unbelieving world, but the question is, how do you face them? How do you deal with them? Do you exercise faith? How do you deal with a situation where something happens, or something is done, or something is said that you simply don't agree with, or hurts, or you just don't like? Do you stop and take a moment to pray about it? Or do you right away shout out about it? I don't like that. I hate that. It doesn't make sense. We are called to live the faith at all times. Let me give you a personal illustration. By now, some of you know that I enjoy watching my children and your children participate in athletic events. I'm probably partial to basketball. That's mostly what I grew up with, and I really enjoy that. But sadly to say, some of you have witnessed me in the past few years not act so Christ-like in the bleachers when I didn't agree with the call the referee made. And for those of you who did witness that and were offended, I sincerely apologize for that and plead for your forgiveness. And ask you to watch me in the future. Indeed, beloved, even when we spectate, we are called to be Christ-like in all that we do. You see, there is action involved in true faith. Read Hebrews 11. By faith, Abel. By faith, Abraham. By faith, Isaac. By faith, Jacob. By faith, Moses. By faith, David. Faith is active. When you have true faith, not only do you confess your faith with your mouth, but you also confess your faith with your life. It's one thing to say, I believe. But is there loyalty? Is there commitment? Is there sacrifice to the one who saves you by grace through faith? Ephesians 2 verse 10 says, For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. And indeed, beloved, we know that we fail often to think back again to the law this morning. We fail to put off the things that we are called to put off. We fail to put on perfectly the things we are called to put on. We do fail, but our comfort is in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. And just because we fail doesn't mean we are not to strive to live a life pleasing to God. To engage in that workmanship, those gifts of faith. The work of faith. Beloved, true believers never exchange the eternal gifts of Christ for the temporary treasures of the world. But false believers ultimately give their heart to the world. Saved by grace through faith. Those who are saved have a common identity, a common requirement, and also a common confession. Question 22 asks, What then must a Christian believe? Now, some might read this question the wrong way, thinking that it asks, Well, what is the least amount that I must believe and still get by? What is the very least? And I can still get into heaven. How close can I get to the line of worldliness and ungodliness without stepping over it? But the catechism answer quickly snuffs out this flame of misunderstanding. Everything God promises us in the Gospel. That Gospel is summarized for us in the articles of our Christian faith, a creed beyond doubt and confessed throughout the world. That summary, of course, here being the Apostles' Creed. It's not the only creed, it's not the only confession, but it's an excellent one. Handed down throughout the generations that all believers confess. The Bible says, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. What does that mean? Really, in its simplest way, it means to believe all that He has said in His Word. Again, did you hear that? All that is promised us in the Gospel. There is the Word of God again. We must know the Bible from cover to cover. The content of our faith is not human tradition. It's not what man decrees. It's not what religious bodies say like synods. It's not what science says. But the content of our faith is what God says. No more. No less. We may not and we must not add to Scripture, nor must we take away from it. God's Word may never be reduced, but it can be summarized. The Apostles' Creed is one of our confessions. Our confession of what God says in His Word in summary form. It's not the entire Bible, but a summary of all that Christians believe. But again, the Apostles' Creed all by itself. It doesn't save you. What is necessary is that you must believe all that is promised in the Gospel. We are not allowed to take some of God's promises and say, well, I like these, and to turn our back on other promises and say, well, I don't really care for those. This means that you, for example, believe in this God, the triune God of Scriptures. It means that you believe that this salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone. It means that you believe that you are called to walk in the light of the teachings of this Word of God. It means that you believe that you have been grafted into this Jesus Christ. It means that you believe everything else contained therein. John says, But these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. Beloved, true faith is the instrument that God uses to give the gift of faith, give the gift of His goodness to His people. If you believe by the power of the Holy Spirit, if you believe the promises of the Gospel, if you firmly believe that these promises are yours for the sake of Jesus Christ, and if you receive all of His benefits by faith, saying, my sins are forgiven, I'm righteous in God's sight, then you have true faith. And if you believe this, then you will also believe and take comfort in the assurance that God gives in the Gospel. As we just read, John says, you may have life in His name. Because true faith is not just a fond hope, an uncertain, fond hope. It is a certainty and a reality that you indeed have life in His name. Do you have true faith? Can you say with the Apostle Paul, for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day? If you can, beloved, then take comfort that you are one of those who by true faith are grafted into him and you have received all of his blessings. You are one of the redeemed. If you don't have this assurance today, then I urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone to humble yourself and bend the knee before the one and only Savior. Confess your sins before Him. Confess your need for a Savior. Look only to Him. Because you cannot save yourself. You can only be saved by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone. Congregation in Jesus Christ, what do you believe? Recite with me, if you will. The words of the Apostles' Creed. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe a holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, again, what response is there that we could bring other than to give You praise and honor and glory and to give You thanksgiving for what You have done? We praise You, O Lord, for You are indeed sovereign. You are over all things and those whom You have chosen indeed, You effectively bring to true faith in Christ Jesus. And Father, we thank You too for the assurance that we have in Your Word from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself that of all those given to Him, He loses not one. Father, as we leave this place in this evening hour, we praise You that we may leave with the confidence that we are kept by You forever and ever. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.